For many reasons it is desirable to have a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) design which can be easily folded into a compact configuration, then quickly formed into a flight ready configuration. Many UAV wing deployment hinges, though, stow and deploy wings at an uneven height. Wings that are flown at uneven heights cause aerodynamic inefficiencies.
To minimize the height differences the wings are built as relatively thin airfoil profiles. But, thin airfoil wings do not provide the efficient lift at low flight speed desired for long loitering UAV systems. Instead, aeronautical engineers desire thick section wings and clean aerodynamics for efficient low speed flight. When stowed the thick section wings consume the same space as the body of the vehicle, which will consume space needed for batteries and payload.
Also, the UAV needs to be packed into as small of a volume as possible. Because of the large deployment of round launcher tubes, it is extremely valuable for the UAV to pack into a round tube. These factors, aerodynamic design and small round packing form factor are in opposition to each other. Accordingly, traditional folding techniques do not work very well.